Macedonia's criminal court requested the interior ministry to issue an arrest warrant for convicted former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian International Agency reported Monday.

Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for acquiring money illegally and influencing officials to purchase a luxury car for government use.

On Friday, the court dismissed Gruevski's appeals, and upheld the judge's verdict.

In the last few days, the Skopje-based criminal court has reportedly tried several times to hand Gruevski personally the court order for serving his prison term.

Gruevski was prime minister from 2006 to 2016, representing the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party.